Richard Sherman

"I don't want to get in a debate as far as stats that he has and things like that," Peterson said during an interview on KMVP-FM. "Obviously his job is definitely much easier than mine. But if you look at their scheme and at our scheme, he's a Cover 3 corner. Period.

"A lot of guys say he's a shutdown corner. But if you look at film and guys who understand the game, go back and look at film and see how his defense is. I believe that if you put him in our system, I don't believe he'll be able to last, honestly. Because I actually do much more than he is (doing)."

I like Patrick Peterson for the versatility. Maybe it's just me but I don't see Sherman shutting down premiere WRs like Revis does, but he's definitely an elite at his job.

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Different utilization. Sherman mostly plays left defensive side of the field, whereas Peterson usually follows the #1. Look at how many redzone td's sherman gave up last year vs peterson. Stats aren't the whole story, but they're a lot of it.

I believe Sherman is very good, but I don't think it's even a competition. Peterson goes up against Jones, Megatron, AJ, Green, and on and on while Sherman goes up against the second tier guys. To me it's Peterson all day every day. The stats may say Sherman, but the stats don't tell the whole story. If given the choice I want a cb that can lock down the other teams #1 wr as much as a #1 can be locked down that is.

sherman's in the perfect situation and enjoying what that brings. he's got a killer pass rush, 2 best in class safeties, linebackers underneath who can cover, and he playes one side even if there's not a receiver there. really good cornerback certainly, especially if the ref's swallow their whistles. he's not the complete player that peterson is though.

Reading Peterson's comments got me to thinking about how we looked at Kj as a rookie. Comparing him to Devin McCourty who had a great rookie year. 76Texan correctly identified different coaching schemes & the help that was dedicated to McCourty (that allowed him to play with confidence) where we left Kj on an island.

Pretty much the same thing. As long as Seattle can afford to play their style, Sherman is going to be fine & worth every penny. But if I'm building a team, I'd rather have Peterson.

I'd rather have Sherman for many reasons, mainly because he's not going to give up the TD, and he's likely to intercept quite a few as well. Peterson seems to be less effective in the red zone, and that's where football games are won or lost. Points are the only stat I truly care about.

Until the refs start calling pass interference, I'd take Sherman mauling receivers all the way down the field every time.

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This is my take, as well. I think Peterson is probably a better pure corner, but Sherman knows how to push the boundaries of the way refs call games these days, and his style of play and mind games get into WRs heads. Plus, dude is a leader and as long as his performance can back up his mouth, it inspires his teammates and fans. He's fun to watch.

Neither are shutdown corners, though, if Deion Sanders is the standard by which we judge it.

Peterson is the superior athlete. Sherman has better instincts for the position. Sherman will never be the athlete that Peterson is. Peterson could/should develop better instincts and close the gap on Sherman. When that happens, I'll take Peterson. Until then, I'll take Sherman.

Peterson has all the physical talent in the world and uses it well for the most part, but he hasn't done it on a weekly basis like some of league's other top cornerbacks. Overall, Peterson ranked 15th among cornerbacks with a plus-5.9 coverage grade, but he did so while tracking the opposition's top wide receiver 55 percent of the time.

His assignment may be more difficult than some of the league's other corners, but he has yet to perform at a level that puts him into the top echelon at the position. He surrendered seven touchdowns into his coverage -- tying for third most in the league -- while his 1.00 yards/cover snap tied for 15th. Using interception numbers to judge a cornerback may be even worse than using tackles for a linebacker, but Peterson got his hands on only nine passes (three intercepted, six passes defensed), a number you would expect to be a little higher for a top cornerback that was targeted 90 times.

Peterson's week-to-week consistency issues, as he finished seven games with negative coverage grades, including a disastrous Week 15 performance that saw him surrender nine catches on 10 targets for 146 yards, most of which came at the hands of Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kendall Wright. While we're certainly not going to hold one game against a player, these are the types of performances that must be avoided if Peterson is going to take the next step to rank among the best cornerbacks in the league. Until then, he's a very good player who takes on assignments of above-average difficulty on a weekly basis.